Call for "One Billion Rising" Flash Mob Participants

Tuesday, January 29 2013

This February, the Women’s Center will once again be producing the University of Idaho’s annual performances of Eve Ensler’s celebrated anti gender-based violence play, "The Vagina Monologues." Every year, the V-Day campaign spotlights a country or global initiative where women are fighting violence with courage and determination. This year, the One Billion Rising campaign has been selected as the V-Day 2013 Spotlight.

One in three women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. Across the globe, this amounts to one billion women. This year, on Feb. 14, 2013, which is V-Day’s 15th anniversary, campuses and other organizations that are hosting V-Day events are being asked to encourage women and those who love them to join in a unifying global dance fest on this day. They want people to walk out, dance, rise up and demand an end to the violence currently being done to one billion women on our planet.
The Women's Center is planning a One Billion Rising dance event on the U-Idaho campus on Feb. 14, but thy need your help. A brand-new song has been written for this event, "Break the Chain," and a dance choreographed by Debbie Allen. YouTube videos of both are available on the homepage of the One Billion Rising website.

Come learn the dance and perform it flash mob-style in the U-Idaho Commons Food Court at noon on Feb. 14. Join hundreds of other campuses across the world who will be rising on Feb. 14. Invite your friends. It will be fun.

Rehearsals will take place on Saturday, Feb. 2 and 9 at 11 a.m. in the multi-purpose room in the Memorial Gym on the University of Idaho campus. This event is open to anyone. The dance is easy, and we want you to get involved.

If you'd like to practice the dance at home, or learn the dance on your own and simply join in the fun on Feb. 14, you can learn it from the step-by-step video on the One Billion rising website, here: http://onebillionrising.org/. Simply scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on the video link entitled "How To: Debbie Allen Teaches Break the Chain Dance."

For questions or concerns, please contact Lysa Salsbury at lsalsbur@uidaho.edu or (208) 885-2777.